[Events Review] Scientists and Reporters' First Dance: Expectations and Interaction

Invited by the section of Science / Technology, Society and Communication, Ministry of Science and Technology, Professor Hans Peter Peters visited Taiwan in November this year (2017) to conduct a series of academic exchanges. At the invitation of the Risk Society and Policy Research Centre (RSPRC), he delivered the first speech at the College of Social Sciences, NTU on November 14. In this talk entitled "Scientists and Journalists: What They Expect from each other and how they Interact", he shares the experience of the communication between scientists and the media, and how the interaction between them can shape the perception of risk in society as a whole. The speech was moderated by RSPRC Director Kuei-Tien Chou and attended by Fu-Chang Tsai, Centre for Biomedical Ethics (NTU) and the Director of the Graduate Institute of Journalism (NTU), Chao-Chen Lin. They are both the co-investigators of the project for science, technology and media centre.

Professor Hans Peter Peters uses three diagrams to explain the communication gap between scientists and journalists.

In order to more clearly present the differences between scientists and the media, Professor Peters collected data through a questionnaire survey. The survey includes 16 different academic fields and was participated by more than 1,500 German scientists. Yin-Yue Luo, a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for General Education of National Central University, also used the same questionnaire to survey the status of Taiwanese life scientists, comparing the results with their German counterparts. In this speech, Peters discussed the topic through four main tropes: First, the frequency and channels of communication between scientists and the media; Second, whether scientists respond to the expectations of journalists; Third, whether the journalists respond to the expectations of scientists; Fourth. After the interaction, how both parties evaluate each other's interaction and its impact?

At the beginning of the speech, Peters discusses the divergence and gap between scientists and journalists, indicating that there is a cognitive gap between them. It does not result from a personal choice or occupational practices, but from their discrete understanding in the assumption, goal and the way of conducting science. Therefore, during communication, both parties can observe the huge differences and the tension between them due to the fact that each of them has different knowledge, languages, goals, communication qualities and time-space framework. However, Professor Peters believes that this "tension" is not necessarily harmful because the mutual collision of different social systems can lead to greater creativity in society.

Professor Hans Peter Peters: "Since the 1980s we have accumulated a great deal of information on science and media communication of different the countries, including data from Taiwan. We use these materials to explore the relationship between scientists and journalists."

In the light of the frequency and channels of communication between scientists and journalists, Professor Peters's research shows that scientists and journalists make contact with each other more frequently than expected in both Taiwan and Germany. Regarding channels, due to the rise of new social media in recent years, the proportion of scientists who prefer to communicate directly with the public is rising. Therefore, even though the media is still the main channel of communication between scientists and the public, the media still need to respond to this phenomenon.

Professor Hans Peter Peters shows that the role of the scientist relates to how they interact with the media.

Professor Hans Peter Peters reveals the gap between the two parties, explaining the expectations of scientists towards journalists and vice versa.

Professor Hans Peter Peters concluded that "there is no need to be desperate, but you should feel worried". Although many scientists are now engaged in media communication, there is still a lack of journalists specialising in scientific affairs.

At the end of his speech, Professor Peters pointed out that "there is no need to be desperate, but you should feel worried" Although many scientists are now engaged in media communication, there is still a lack of journalists specialising in scientific affairs. This is a crisis for journalists and journalism. This is also a problem that must be addressed in the context of the increasingly diversified channels of information acquisition. Professor Peters also made two important suggestions on the incoming science, technology and media centre. First, the centre should further strengthen the independence of reporting and try to avoid competition with the invested media agency in reporting scientific affairs. Second, in addition to paying attention to scientific issues, attention should also be paid to other social issues.